Bugti
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| 300,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Bugti Balochi |
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Sunni Islam and Hindu minority |
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Aleppo Syria and other Baloch tribes |
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Bugti. |
Bugti (Balochi: بگٹی), is a Baloch tribe located in Balochistan, Pakistan. They are divided into various clans such as Rahija, Mandawani , Kalpar, Nauthani, Masuri, Ferozani, Salamaan Zai, Mundarani, Qasimani, Shambani, Sobazai, Pahi, Maretha and Moharkanzai etc., numbering around 300,000.
On a bigger scale the Bugti tribe are claimed to be a clan of the Rind tribe. Like the Marris, the Bugtis are considered fine horsemen and good fighters. A military expedition against the Bugti was organized by Sir Charles Napier in 1845, but the British could not control the tribe till later when Sir Robert Sandeman ruled Baluchistan. It is claimed that the construction of the Sukkur-Quetta railway line bifurcated the territory of the Bugtis and made them adopt to modern ways of life. Marri and Bugti both are blood-related tribes. In fact, it is said that Marri, Bugti, Khetran and Rind have the same origins. Bugti is the most powerful tribe of the Baluch. They are thought to have settled in their present location around 1500 AD when Mir Chakkar (a 16th-century Baluch king) settled in the barren terrain of the present Bugti territories in Baluchistan, i.e., the large area around the town of Dera Bugti.
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[edit] Origin
The origin of the Bugti tribe is often recounted by the Bugti Sardars (elders) claiming that the Bugtis to be from Aleppo (Halab) (Arabic: حلب) in Syria. It is claimed that the tribe migrated to Dera Bugti, Balochistan after the death of the fourth Muslim Caliph Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib after 661 A.D. The cause of their migration is claimed to be infighting among the various clans of Aleppo.
Like other places in Baluchistan, Dera Bugti has a Hindu population. One can imagine this area to be sparsely populated by indigenous Hindus for a long time—many of these Hindus may have converted to Islam when the new faith reached this region.
Some historians like Rai Bahadur Hetoram say that the ancestor of Bugtis was Hazrat Ameer Hamza the uncle of the Prophet Mohammed known as one of the bravest Muslims who sacrificed his life for the cause of Islam also titled as {Shaheed Ul Momineen}.
Because of the desert-like environment of Baluchistan, with limited agricultural land, the people living in the region historically made ends meet by robbing the pilgrims traveling from the more affluent areas of South Asia to Mecca.
[edit] Language
The language of the Bugti people is known as Bugti Balochi which is widely spoken in Dera Bugti, Sui, Kahan, Kohlu, Jacobabad, Sibi, Pir Koh and many other places in Balochistan. One of the several Persian words left in Bugti Balochi is Sheh which means "thing or things". Their language was influenced by Sindhi and a bit by Punjabi because they live near the border of Sindh and Punjab. An arabic word is Qadah , which means a bowl.
[edit] Location
The area of Dera Bugti is situated in a hill range, comprising the tribal tract known as Bugti country. They are situated in a westward continuation of the Sulaimān Range, pointing towards the Quetta node. The area these nomadic Bugtis inhabit very barren. The discovery of natural gas deposits at Sūi has brought new economic life to the area. Several valleys and plateaus in the range are being gradually brought into the folds of modern life. Bugtis occupy the hills to the east of the Sind-Peshin railway, between Jacobabad and Sibi, with the Marris (a cognate tribe) to the north of them.
[edit] Tribes and chiefs
The Bugti Nawab is the supreme leader of the whole Bugti tribe. The Chiefs of sub-tribes of the Bugti are throned by the Nawab upon the formal request of that sub-tribe in the event of death, paralysis or simply the loss of majority of support from and within that particular sub-tribe. The Chieftains of sub-tribes are also known as Waderas in Baluchi. They are throned from among other possible candidates in the family.
[edit] Famous Bugtis
Nawab miraali Bugti
taleh bugti, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Brahamdagh Bugti, Shah Zain Bugti, zamran Bugti,bramdag bugti
